Post by Jonathan Baggs
Thanks to our unplanned stopover in Mumbai due to a mixup by our airline, Marieke and I landed in Bagdora airport after our 2 ½ hour flight feeling good and rested. We were impressed at how well the airline made up for their mistake compared to previous experiences we’d had, cough(Air Canada). We’d had nearly a full day of rest plus good meals at the hotel they’d arranged for us. Transport was provided to and from the hotel, although our driver thought we were going to a different departing terminal and was annoyed by having to travel the extra distance. Sorry buddy, but not our problem. We also got a surprise free gift of local snacks on the flight for the inconvenience.
Steph was waiting for us at the airport having arrived about a half hour before us. We hadn’t seen her since we left the Philippines in February 2024. After sorting our luggage, we headed out to find our ride.
Marieke had arranged a taxi through our guest house host at our first destination, Kurseong. There were a bunch of taxis outside the small airport, but none of them were ours. After waiting for a while Marieke managed to contact the driver who told her he was having lunch. Yes b’y, don’t rush your dinner for our sake. He eventually arrived and we were off. The drive was nice and our driver found us an atm to get rupees. We started to wind our way up into the mountains, passing great views and the Darjeeling Toy Train as it slowly made its way up, horn blowing almost constantly.
We arrived at our guest house early in the afternoon and met our very friendly host. Our room had a gorgeous view of the mountains, including Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest peak in the world. Kurseong sits along the side of a mountain with the buildings and houses terraced along the slope. After settling in, we went to check out the town. The train station was just up the road and had a beautiful tea room where we had Darjeeling tea and played Yahtzee. We found a nice restaurant with the local favourite, momos, similar to dumplings. The owner and his friends, all retired gentlemen, were very happy to have us and had to get some pictures with us.
Enjoying sunrise from the rooftop of our homestay
Jet lag had us all up early the next morning, so we put on our warm clothes and headed up to the rooftop terrace to catch a beautiful sunrise and views of the mountains while we enjoyed some tea from our host. Breakfast was a delicious puri bhaji, deep fried flour puffs with potato curry.
After breakfast we hiked up the side of the mountain to check out a large statue we’d seen from the town. It turned out to be of the half man, half monkey Hindu god, Haunuman. We continued up and came to a pine forest. We had a lovely walk through the forest to a lookout marked on Google Maps as “Heaven”. Heaven had great views of the plains and rivers below the mountains and although it wasn’t exactly how I’d pictured heaven, at least we made it in. On our way down we stopped at a small museum called the West Bengal Forest School. There were some tree samples and old photos there, which weren’t too interesting, but the unexpected highlight was a room full of taxidermied local animals. Our next stop was a shrine to a local guru followed by a monestary.
There was an event taking place just outside the monastery with lots of people having lunch and refreshments on a terrace. We were greeted by a man there who told us it was a celebration to dedicate a pagoda to his deceased father who had been a monk. He invited us to join them for a great lunch of local dishes. He said that it’s considered good luck to have guests on special occasions and was delighted to have us unexpectedly arrive. The monastery was very nice, with vibrant paintings of Hindu gods and stories. After lunch was finished the crowd went to the pagoda for the ceremony. It was an amazing cultural experience and afterwards everyone was given gift bags of snacks to take.
The following morning we explored the town a bit more and planned to go to a tea garden in a valley below the town in the afternoon. The distance to walk to the tea garden turned out to be much farther than Google Maps indicated, but the scenery was beautiful, so we carried on. The sun was setting as we made it to the valley and walked through very nice, small villages, saying hello to the friendly locals. The tea garden was nowhere to be found, so we decided to go to a nearby temple before finding a ride back.
Just before reaching the temple we passed a couple of guys standing outside a house who said hello and asked where we were going. We said the temple and they told us the local legend that the temple wasn’t built but appeared out of the ground one day. We asked where we could get a ride back up to Kurseong afterwards. They replied “there won’t be any transport at this point in the evening”, before adding “you shouldn’t walk around here at night, there are animals”. Before we had a chance to worry we’d messed up, they told us to come back once we’d visited the temple and they’d arrange a ride for us. Perfect!
The temple was very nice with beautiful shrines and trees growing through the structure, making it look, as the legend said, like it had grown out of the ground. After looking around the grounds we headed back to the guys we’d spoken with who invited us in to their home to meet their family. Just like at the monestary the previous day, they were very happy to have us and served us delicious local tea, biscuits and snacks, which were kind of like Hawkins Cheezies with a hint of masala(Hawkins, get on this). We told them how much we appreciated their hospitality as we headed to their car and the guys took us back up the windy road to Kurseong.
Evening tea and snacks with the family who helped us get back to Kurseong
After breakfast and tea the next morning, our guest house host was nice enough to help us find a transport. We couldn’t believe how incredibly friendly the people we’d met had been and it was a perfect way to start our trip. Now we were off to Mane Bhajang where we’d start our mountain trek to see the highest peaks in the world.
USEFUL NOTES AND TIPS
Accommodations Kurseong: Agoda Link: Mountain View Homestay
Our hosts were fantastic and provided us with everything we asked for. The room was clean and spacious and we enjoyed the hot showers. The view of the mountains and town from our room was great, but the view from the rooftop where our hosts served us breakfast and morning tea was even better. The included breakfast was very good and we also enjoyed a meal of momos from the restaurant on the main floor, which the host brought to our room. As mentioned above our host helped us organize a taxi pick up from the airport for our arrival and he walked us to the shared jeeps to help us get on one going to Darjeling when we departed. His communication via whatsapp leading up to the stay was excellent and helpful.
ATMs There is no ATM at Bagdora airport and the ATM at Terminal 2 in Mumbai did not work for our Canadian Cards. We asked our taxi driver to stop at an ATM on the way to Kurseong. The Bank of Baroda worked for our cards and does not charge a withdrawal fee (or at least does not advertise one. After comping the withdrawal to another ATM it was a few dollars cheaper. 10,000 is the max per withdrawal.
Wifi: There is no wifi at Bagdora airport and from what we understand esims are not currently permitted in India. Make sure your driver knows you won’t be able to communicate by text in advance and that you have all access to info you need on arrival saved offline.
Acclimatization: Kurseong ranges from 1490 to 2000 meters above sea level. Making this our first stop prior to doing the Sandakphu trail helped us to acclimatize prior to the hike.
The ride to Kurseong: The road to Kurseong is in fairly good condition, however it is very windy and private car services drive very fast. If you are prone to motion sickness, make sure you pop a Gravol before the ride!
Weather: In mid-late November during the day when the sun is out Kurseong has a nice temperature, however when the sun goes away it gets quite cold. Buildings do not have indoor heating so be sure to pack appropriate layers to wear in the evening. We often wore our wool baselayers while in our room and sometimes wore our down jackets.
Power Outlets: Outlets were both the European style and type D in the rooms.